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Feb 18, 2016

A Blueprint to Build Conscious Machines

Posted by in categories: neuroscience, robotics/AI

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KV3hHGUGXIU

A complete cognitive architecture to implement systems that are self-aware and capable of intentional mutations. Now available at mecasapiens.com.

HALIFAX, CANADA, February 16, 2016 (Newswire.com) — Monterège Design Inc. is pleased to announce the publication of a cognitive architecture to implement synthetic consciousness. The systems based on this architecture will be fully autonomous, self-aware and capable of intentional mutations. The architecture, published under the title The Meca Sapiens Blueprint, is complete and ready for design and implementation. It can be purchased on line at mecasapiens.com.

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Feb 18, 2016

Scientists Have Created Miniature Versions of the Human Brain Using Skin Cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Researchers have developed a functioning miniature replica of the human brain, composed of neurons and glial cells, to help study and better understand neurological diseases.

A tiny ball of brain cells may help researchers alleviate or treat neurological diseases.

These small cellular balls act like miniature versions of the human brain, mimicking various aspects of the actual brain that include sending pulses of electric signals akin to what happens in a thinking mind. This research was reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington.

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Feb 18, 2016

What is ransomware and how to protect your business from it

Posted by in categories: business, cybercrime/malcode

What would it mean if you lost all of your personal documents, such as your family photos, research or business records? How much would you pay to get them back? There’s a burgeoning form of cybercrime that hinges on the answers to these questions.

You have probably heard of viruses and malware. These dangerous pieces of software can make their way into your computer and wreak havoc. Malware authors are intent on stealing your data and disrupting the proper functioning of your digital devices.

Then there is ransomware. This is crafted by cyber-criminals for extorting data from innocent users, and is rapidly becoming a threat to individuals, small business and corporate users alike.

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Feb 18, 2016

Robot limb lets drummers play with three arms

Posted by in categories: media & arts, neuroscience, robotics/AI, wearables

How robotics is making live music a more enriching experience.


Scientists have developed a ‘smart’ wearable robotic limb that responds to human gestures and the music it hears, allowing drummers to play with three arms.

The two-foot long robotic arm can be attached to a musician’s shoulder, and knows what to play by listening to the music in the room. It improvises based on the beat and rhythm. For instance, if the musician plays slowly, the arm slows the tempo. If the drummer speeds up, it plays faster.

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Feb 18, 2016

Caribou Bio’s New CRISPR Patent Isn’t About Gene Editing

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

The facts about the CRISPR Patent.


Xconomy San Francisco —

If you ask people who don’t follow biotech too closely what they know about CRISPR, you might get two answers: genetic editing and a big patent fight.

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Feb 18, 2016

GBM Treatment Discoveries: Why Select Drugs Might not Work

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

New insights on GBM resistance markers.


A research team, with the participation of the University of Granada (UGR), has made some progress in determining the causes for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most aggressive brain tumors known, to be resistant to the drugs currently used, which is one of the main limitations of its treatment. The results have been recently published in two articles in PlosOne magazine.

The researchers have proven that proteoglycans (the cells’ structural elements), called decorin (DCN) and lumican (LUM), could be decisive in the behavior and development of a resistance to the drugs used for treating glioblastoma multiforme, such as temozolamide (TMZ). In the other hand, they have laid bare that the inhibition of the transcription of some of the sub-units belonging to the mismatch-repair (MMR) complex, a system that analyzes and repairs DNA, could be responsible of the failure of current therapies against this kind of tumor.

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Feb 18, 2016

Ransomware: People Would Pay Ransom to Recover Photos, but Not Work Files

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

Americans are the most impacted by ransomware infections.

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Feb 18, 2016

Man vs machine: Bio-chip implants will make us stronger but an open target for hackers

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cybercrime/malcode, privacy, security

Absolutely; it will and that is the real danger in technology. This is why security roles will be increasingly in demand over the next 7 to 10 years.


Kaspersky director Marco Preuss looks at the future of biometric technology and bio-cybersecurity.

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Feb 18, 2016

This New Artificial Intelligence Script-Reading Program Could Find Your Next Oscar Role (Exclusive)

Posted by in categories: entertainment, information science, robotics/AI

Actors and Actresses will never have to worry about reading through pages of scripts to decide whether or not the role is worth their time; AI will do the work for you.


A version of this story first appeared in the Feb. 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

During his 12 years in UTA’s story department, Scott Foster estimates he read about 5,500 screenplays. “Even if it was the worst script ever, I had to read it cover to cover,” he says. So when Foster left the agency in 2013, he teamed with Portland, Ore.-based techie Brian Austin to create ScriptHop, an artificial intelligence system that manages the volume of screenplays that every agency and studio houses. “When I took over [at UTA], we were managing hundreds of thousands of scripts on a Word document,” says Foster, who also worked at Endeavor and Handprint before UTA. “The program began to eat itself and become corrupt because there was too much information to handle.” ScriptHop can read a script and do a complete character breakdown in four seconds, versus the roughly four man hours required of a reader. The tool, which launches Feb. 16 is free, and is a sample of the overall platform coming later in 2016 that will recommend screenplays as well as store and manage a company’s library for a subscription fee of $29.99 a month per user.

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Feb 18, 2016

Why is IBM surging?

Posted by in categories: business, computing, health, robotics/AI

Big Blue is cool again according to investors.


NEW YORK: Here’s a vexing question for artificial mega-brain Watson: Why is IBM stock surging? Big Blue’s market value rose about $6 billion after the computer giant agreed on Thursday to buy Truven Health Analytics for $2.6 billion. Giving IBM’s artificial-intelligence platform more data to chew on is useful, but investors’ glee over an opaque addition to an enigmatic business effort is confusing.

Big Blue’s top line has been shrinking steadily for nearly four years. In the fourth quarter of 2015, all major divisions had declining sales, with overall revenue falling 8.5 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. Clients need less of IBM’s hardware, and its software and consulting businesses are faltering in competition with rivals’ cloud-based versions.

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